Slowly, slowly, gently, gently. That's not only a Thai approach to life, but also our approach to kite surfing and our teacher's mantra. It's the second time that we are taking lessons with Colin Wilson. He is the owner and master instructor at airstylers.com. He, his wife Pam and an irregular crew of instructors gave us an almost family like feeling during our stays in Pranburi and his patient instructing style gave us the space to make progress. This time we managed to actually only rent equipment and go upwind - at least somewhat ;) Pranburi really has been the location where a beginner can learn to kitesurf: almost no people; pretty constant on shore wind; several beaches to chose from in low and high tide; lots of things to do, if the wind is down.

On such a day we watched Crystal Voyager and parts of The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun with surfer legend George Greenough. George "The Mat" is probably exemplifying the passionate man going his own way. Sure, he is a wealthy parents' offspring and can afford to do whatever he pleases, but he chooses a life which does not follow the Maslow hierarchy of needs. He does not conform to the earthly desires of status, peer pressure, to what society considers normal. He follows his passion in every aspect of life and by doing that turns into a surfer, philosopher and engineer. George is credited with being the best mat surfer on planet and with inventing surf board fins.

What strikes me most though is how his life style seems to have inspired Pink Floyd. The creators of "we don't need no education" must have seen in George the living proof of their claims about institutionalized education. Claims which have been confirmed by modern neuroscience, e.g. in the documentary Alphabet: you can't force man to learn, you can only inspire him to make his own efforts.